Air conditioning and/or humidifying apparatus



B. LIPTON March 1l, 19.52

AIR CONDITIONING AND/OR HUMIDIFYING APPARATUS 2 SHEETS-SHEET l FiledJan. 14, 1949 B. LIPTON March 11, 1952 AIR CONDITIONING AND/ORHUMIDIFYING APPARATUS 2 SHEETS--SHEET 2 Filed Jan. 14, 1949 .QUI

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QN mw Patented Mar. 11, 1952 AIR CONDITIONING AND/ R HUMIDIFYINGAPPARATUS l Bernard Lipton, Leicester, England Application January 14,1949, Serial No. 71,014 In Great Britain January 4, 1949 3 Claims. (Cl.261-97) This invention relates to air conditioning or humidifyingapparatus more particularly of the portable type and its main object isto provide a construction which improves the air flow, gives rigidity tothe mounting of a fan and motor, and enables the interior parts to bereadily removed for cleaning, inspection and repair.

According to the invention an outer casing is adapted to contain liquidin its lower part and has aligned openings front and back and is adaptedto support a tube with its axis disposed horizontally, means beingprovided to support a motor and fan within the tube, the tube having' aslot in its lower part through which means depend adapted to projectwater into the air stream in the tube.

Preferably the tube is attached at the rear end to a ring which servesas an end or back plate to the casing and has an annular flange at itsouter periphery whereby it has a push-on t with the outer casing, sothat the tube together with all the parts carried by it can be removedas a unit together with the back plate. The casing may have a shorttubular member at its front end which member is engaged by the iront endof the tube.

'Ihe tube is thus rigidly mounted at its front and rear ends therebyproviding a firm support for the motor and fan.

I'he tubular member may also be carried by a flanged ring having a pushon attachment on the front end of the casing.

The apparatus may carry a heating element near its front end, and atextile mesh screen 0r the like adapted to hold water so as to assist inmoistening the air drawn through it. 'I'he screen may be mounted in avertical plane and the tube may carry an inclined trough at its upperpart the lower end of the trough being adjacent to the screen so thatsome of the water thrown into the air stream trickles down the troughand falls in a steady iiow of drops on to the screen to keep it moist.

In order that the invention may be readily understood a oonstructionalform thereof will n'ow be described by way of example with refer- .enceto the accompanying diagrammatic drawings wherein;

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of an air `conditioning orhumidifying apparatus made in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is a rear elevation thereof;

Figure 3 is a central vertical sectional view thereof; and

Figure 4 is a circuit diagram of the electrical system.

The apparatus has an outer sheet metal casing In mounted on a hollowsheet metal stand ll. The casing is cylindrical and Aat its lower parthas front and rear walls i3, I4, whereby the cas- 2 ing can containwater l5 which can be iced for cooling, or may contain perfumes,germicides, or other desired substances. A drain cock I1 is fitted atthe bottom of the casing, and a handle I8 is provided at the top of thecasing.

A ring 20 forms a back plate to the casing, and has an annular ange 2|at its outer periphery whereby it has a push-on fit on to the rear endof the casing and can be secured by bolts 22 and nuts 23. This ring 20thas a circular opening 25 the axis of which is above the axis of thecasing and ixed to the ring at its inner periphery is one end oi a tube26 that extends from the front to the rear of the casing therebyproviding an air tunnel through the casing.

A ring 28 forms a front plate to the apparatus and has an annular iiange29 at its outer periphery which has a push-on t on to the casing. Thisring has la circular opening 3U on the same axis as the opening 25 andtube 26. The ring 28 has fixed to it at its inner periphery a tubularmember 3| which receives and supports the front end of the tube 26 sothat this tube is rigidly supported at both ends.

A motor 33 is mounted within the tube 26 by a supporting ring 34 carriedby three radial arms 35 forming a spider attached to the tube by bolts36.

The motor is thus firmly mounted whereby vibration and noise areminimised. The motor spindle carries a fan 31 at its front end and apulley 38 at its rear end. A loose rubber band or ring 39 on the pulleydepends through a slot 40 in the lower part of the tube 26 and dips intothe water and partly in conjunction with the pulley throws water intothe tube so as to moisten the air stream. Some of this water strikes aplate 4I attached to the tube 26 and extending inwardly thereof andflows down this plate into an inclined trough 42 formed by turning upthe lower edge of the plate. The lower end of this trough is closelyadjacent to a textile mesh screen 43 which is carried by a metal ring 44in a vertical plane. The water flowing down the trough drips steadily onto the screen and keeps it wet so that it assists in moistening the airpassing through it.

The inner periphery of the ring 20 is formed into an annular rib 45 andspaced from this rib is a ring 46 provided with a ange 41 spot welded tothe tube 26. The metal ring 44 is located between the rib 45 and ring46. The ring 44 has a linger-piece 49 and tags 50 one of which can enterinto an opening 48 formed in the ring 46 whereby it is held againstundue movement.

Two curved plates are spot welded to the tube at its front end and theseplates carry brackets 51 which carry bars 66 made of heat insulatingmaterial. These bars carry a heating resistance element 6l. 1

The back plate 20 carries a heater switch 63 and a motor switch 64connected with the heater and motor as shown in Figure 4 so that themotor can be switched on without switching on the heater but the heatercan only be supplied with current when the motor Yis being driven. Allelectric parts are thus carried by the back plate and tube and areremovable therewith as a unit.

The front plate 28 carries a decorative and protective grille 61 and aname plate 68.

An electric flex passes through the plate 2D and ring 34 and provides alead from the electric mains to the motor and heater.

I claim:

1. An air conditioning apparatus comprising an outer` casing adapted tocontain liquid in its lower part and having aligned openings front andback, a cylindrical tube disposed in the casing, means for supporting amotor and fan within the tube with their axes of rotation parallelwiththe axis of the tube, said means being connected to the tube y positionsspaced around the axis of the tube said tube and outer casing being ofapproximately the same axial length which is greater than combined axiallength of the motor and fan,

a ring attached to the tube at one end thereof, which ring serves as anend plate to one end of vthe casing, a flange on said ring, said flangehaving a push-on fit on the adjacent end of the casing so as to attachthe ring detachably to the casing, the'tube being carried horizontallyby said ring the ring and tube and parts carried by it being removableas a unit from the casing, and a short tubular member having its axishorizontal attached to the other end of the casing and located withinthe casing, which'member supports the other end of the tube, waterprojecting means within the tube and depending through an opening in oneend of the tube into the water and adapted to project water into the airstream in the tube, said fan and water projecting means being located atopposite ends of the motor, a heating element mounted on the tube at oneend thereof at the same end of the motor as the fan, a textile g 'screenmounted in a vertical plane at the other end of the tube, an inclinedtrough, the lower end of which is-adjacent to the screen, which troughis adapted to receive water thrown up into the tube and to supply watervto the screenand is formed by turning up the edge of a plate which iscarried at the upper part of the tube and extends inwardly thereof so asto catch some of the water thrown up into the tube, and

an electrical heater switchv and motor switch.

carried by the end plate,

2. An air conditioning apparatus comprising an outer casing adapted tocontain liquid in its lower part and having aligned openings front and.back, a cylindrical tube disposed in the? casing, means for supporting amotor and'ian within the tube with their axes of rotation parallel withthe axis of the tube, said tube and outer casing being of approximatelythe vsame axial length which is greater than the combined axial lengthof the motor and fan, a ring attached to the tube at one end thereof,which at least at three ring serves as an end plate to one end of thecasing, a flange on said ring, said ilange having a push-on fit on theadjacent end of the casing so as to attach the ring detachably to thecasing. the tube being carried horizontally by said ring, the ring andtube and parts carried by it being removable as a unit from the casing,and a short tubular member having its axis horizontally attached to theother end of the casing and located within the casing, which membersupports the other end of the tube, means within the tube and dependingthrough an opening in one end of the tube into the water and adapted toproject water into the air stream in the tube. a textile screen mountedin a vertical plane at one end of the tube, and an inclined troughcarried by the tube, the lower end of which trough is adjacent to thescreen, and which trough is adapted to receive water thrown up into thetube and to supply water to the screen.

3. An air conditioning apparatus comprising an outer casing adapted tocontain liquid in its lower part and having aligned openings front andback, a cylindrical tube disposed in the casing, means for supporting amotor and fan within the tube with their axes of rotation parallel withthe axis of the tube, said tube and outer casing being of approximatelythe same axial length which Yis greater tha-n'the combined axial lengthof the motor and fan, a ring attached to the tube at one end thereof,which ring serves as an end plate to one end of the casing, a ange onsaid ring, said'flange having a push-on t on the adjacent end of thecasing so as to attach the ring detachably to the casing, the tube beingcarried horizontally by. said ring, the ring and tubexand parts carriedby it being removable as a unit from the casing, and a short tubularmember having its axis horizontally attached to the other end of thecasing and located within thefcasing, which member supports the otherend of the tube, means within the tube and depending through an openingin one end of the tube into the water and adapted to project water intothe air stream in the tube, said ring having its inner edge extendinginwardly of the tube to form an annular rib, a locating ring within thetube and carried by the tube and spaced from the rib, a textile screen,and a metal ring c'a'rrying the textile screen and removably mountedbetween said rib and locating ring.

BERNARD LIPTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record 'in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS' Hariss Oct. 15, 1940

